Urenco and Babcock face prosecution over uranium oxide release

Urenco Capenhurst

NUCLEAR engineering companies Urenco ChemPlants and Babcock Critical Services are to be prosecuted after a 2024 incident at an enrichment site in the UK led to a uranium oxide release. 

The decision to instigate criminal proceedings follows an investigation by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) that found no injuries to workers or public health consequences. 

The ONR said a “small amount" of uranium oxide powder was released into the tails management facility (TMF) at Urenco’s Capenhurst site in February 2024, after a metal container holding almost 11 t of uranium oxide fell from a forklift truck.

State-owned Urenco, jointly controlled by the UK and Dutch governments, operates three enrichment plants at Capenhurst. Its subsidiary, Urenco ChemPlants, runs the TMF which converts depleted uranium hexafluoride, a byproduct of enrichment, into the more stable uranium oxide for long-term storage. 

Babcock Critical Services, part of Babcock International, is a contractor at the facility and completed a design review of the TMF in 2025.